DHNS
 
Mangalore Oct 17: A completely amputed limb of a 38-year-old man has been successfully replanted at A J Hospital in Mangalore recently. The microvascular surgery performed by a team of doctors led by plastic surgeon Dr Dinesh Kadam and orthopaedic surgeon Ajith Kumar is the first of its kind in coastal Karnataka, the hospital management claimed in press meet here on Monday.

Suresh, a private bus driver, got his left arm separated in an accident while he was travelling in a bus, a month ago. He was soon rushed to A J Hospital with his cut limb which was fractured and crushed at elbow and wrist in addition to the total amputation at the upper arm, just below the shoulder.

After an eight hour long microvascular surgery, the limb was successfully attached to Suresh’s shoulders. He was intensively monitored in the surgical ICU for a week and will be discharged soon, informed Dr Dinesh Kadam.

The surgery has averted a major disability for Suresh upon whom his wife and three children are dependant. However, it will take six to nine months before he recovers his sensation, Dr Kadam said.

Microvascular surgery is a highly skilled plastic surgical procedure that involves surgery of minute blood vessels and is performed with the aid of an operating microscope. A J hospital’s plastic and microvascular surgery department, established three years ago has performed over 35 such surgeries, the last one being the successful rejoining of a totally amputed thumb in a 11 months old baby.

Dr Kadam urged the public to bring the amputed body parts within 24 hours to the hospital, covered in a polythene bag and dipped in ice, to facilitate a successful surgery.